. . . After Every Meal

As The Toothbrush Rises In Stature, The Market Brims With Designs

When deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. troops two years ago, he carried two things in his pocket: a Bible and a toothbrush.

The humble toothbrush can assume spiritual significance when life is reduced to bare essentials. As a great tidal wave of Baby Boomers rolls steadily into middle age, it has become a different kind of savior. It can slow or halt the near-certain onslaught of gum disease, and prevent a fate even worse-dentures.

A newly installed bridge recently forced Jerry Connell to fine-tune his brushing habits and invest in new armament.

``I wouldn`t have had a use for a dental mirror until a year ago,`` the 50-year-old Atlanta interior designer lamented, ``but my bridge is real hard to get at.``

Time-robbed, frazzled and bloody-gummed Baby Boomers are looking for a plaque-buster with a guarantee.

``It`s a busy world, and they`re looking for something that will do the job real well and real fast,`` said American Dental Association president Geraldine Morrow.

The fight against gum disease has been waged with particular vigor because of two phenomena: fluoride and profit. The two combined have provoked an avalanche of brushes and a marketing blitz aimed squarely at Baby Boomers. For the closet brusher, there are models that glow in the dark, and non-skid handles for the slippery-fingered. There are small brushes for the tight-cheeked who can`t reach their back teeth and big brushes for the rushed so they can get the job done quickly. For kids, there are Berenstain Bears and Mickey Mouse designs, and for kids at heart there are brushes that sport ski jumpers or swimmers or abstract art.

Other brushes feature bristles that change color when it`s time to buy new ones; long handles for hard-to-reach teeth; and angled heads so bristles can clean between gums and teeth.

For those who would rather rely on mechanical power, there is an array of electric brushes. No longer is Interplak, a $90 model with 10 tufts of bristles that rotate 4,200 times a minute, the only bird of its feather in town.

Sacrifice 1,000 rotations and the new Braun Oral-B Plaque Remover can be had for about $20 less. And if you`ll settle for bristles that circle instead of rotate and make just 2,000 strokes per minute, you can save yourself $50 on the Sunbeam Cordless/Rechargeable Auto Toothbrush.

``People are looking for a brush that`s idiot-proof,`` says Robert Griffin, applying that description to the Radius line he represents. The company`s just-introduced Scuba toothbrush-a consolation prize on the

``Jeopardy!`` game show-is, he admits, a weird-looking specimen. Its bendable, black rubber handle is as big as that of a hairbrush; if spanking were still in vogue, it would make a good paddle.

With all this turmoil in the toothbrush trade, which one to pick?

Provided three technical questions are considered, the answer boils down to this: whichever is the right color.

ADA spokesman Phil Weintraub maintains that as long as the bristles are soft and rounded, and that the brush is the right size for its user, they`re all about equal in ability. To that end, 46 brushes, manual and electric, have been given the ADA seal of approval, which means they are safe and effective. Generally speaking, electric brushes work no better than properly used manual ones, says the ADA`s Morrow. ``For those with some kind of a handicap, an electric brush might be more manageable.``

One toothbrush available only by mail claims to eliminate the need for flossing. The $199.50 Dr. Woog PerioSystem bills itself as an all-in-one hydraulic unit combining an electric brush with a WaterPik-style irrigator that ``pumps 17,000 micro-droplets of water and air per second`` between teeth.

``If it claims to take care of all dental hygiene needs,`` said John Kalmar, director of clinic operations and assistant professor at the Emory University School of Post Graduate Dentists in Atlanta, ``that`s going to be wishful thinking.``

If you are an average American, you will not want to waste time on wishful thinking when it comes to brushing your teeth.